How to Hold Others Accountable

Do you struggle with holding others accountable when they don’t follow through on tasks and commitments? This is especially challenging when you don’t supervise team members who fall short. The easiest way to hold someone accountable is by simply making an observation of the behavior you are seeing and asking about it. For example, “I noticed you missed the deadline for turning in your report. Help me understand what happened?” Be sure to always describe the behavior (“You missed the deadline,”) rather than evaluate it (“You are unreliable,”), which can make people very defensive and heighten the tension. Next, make a request and ask for agreement, “Going forward, will you please notify me ahead of time if you aren’t able to make a deadline? Can I get your agreement on that?” This may be a little uncomfortable, but it sets the expectation that being late without prior notification is not acceptable going forward.

Having agreements upfront can be very helpful. If someone agreed to a behavior/to follow a process, and they break that commitment, simply stating that you thought you had an agreement and asking what happened is enough to make the point. For example, “I thought we agreed that if you were going to be late on a task you would notify me in advance. Help me understand what happened?” Having team norms or operating principles can also be extremely helpful. (See last month’s newsletter on creating clarity with team agreements here.) You can simply remind others of the norm they are violating such as, “We have a team norm about notifying others if you are going to be late on tasks. Help me understand what happened?” These tactics are assertive rather than aggressive or passive aggressive. 

By having conversations in this manner, you open the door for a dialogue to discover what’s really happening instead of making assumptions and initiating an unnecessary conflict. You may find obstacles that are making it difficult for team members to follow through on commitments, discover that expectations are unclear, or uncover misunderstandings around who is truly accountable for tasks. Being accountable and holding others accountable is part of being a great leader.

 “Accountability breeds response-ability.” – Stephen Covey

“Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to results.” – Bob Proctor

“The enemy of accountability is ambiguity.” – Patrick Lencioni